Carl Rodrigues
CEO, Harvard Allston Land Co.
Age: 40
Industry experience: 12 years
Across the Charles River from Harvard Square, the David Rubenstein Treehouse will become Harvard University’s first university-wide hub for gatherings and research. The 61,500-square-foot conference center constructed with mass timber and a 250-room hotel are key differentiators as Harvard Allston Land Co. and its private development partner, New York-based Tishman Speyer, market 440,000 square feet of office and lab space in the initial phase of the Enterprise Research Campus rising on Western Avenue. In April, Harvard and Tishman Speyer proposed a second phase including 720,000 square feet of office and lab space and 420 apartments at 100 Western Ave. A Leominster native and Tufts University graduate, Carl Rodrigues was named CEO of HALC in 2022 after seven years at the New York City Office of Housing & Economic Development and the New York City Economic Development Corp.
Q: How does the hotel and conference center component of the ERC complement the project?
A: Everything we’re doing here is about trying to create a sense of place. People think of Harvard and Harvard Square as synonymous. They can get a bite to eat, coffee with a colleague, a drink with a prospective job candidate or faculty member. We want those options to be here as much as possible for the existing community and the Harvard community. We are thinking about how we create a place that is active as much of the time as possible. If you look at the projects that are really anchored around innovation, many of them are purely office parks and they are active from 9 to 5. We’ve been super mindful of that. That is why there is a residential component.
The conference center has its own cycle of activity and on top of that, the hotel does as well. The hotel and conference center must work well together. Almost all conference centers need some hospitality nearby to make them function to their utmost. That’s what we’re looking to accomplish here: a symbiotic relationship between the conference center and hotel, and a vibrant place that will be attractive to residents, students, faculty and the new folks who will be working in these buildings.
Q: What does the recent announcement about $335 million in federal funding for the Allston Multimodal Project mean for the timeline for the Beacon Park Yards project?
A: One of the key aspects is always funding. To get the $335 million from the federal government is really exciting for a generational project that has enormous potential to change lives in Boston and the region. As it relates to the timeline, there is a lot of process when it relates to these projects. The city just ended the community engagement process, and we were happy to participate and be a stakeholder amongst many to try and figure out what can happen here.
The first things that will be delivered are the infrastructure: the realignment of the Turnpike, the building of the new multimodal West Station, and only after those things happen do those enable the building of anything else. We have had some conversations with the city and the state when it comes to air rights. By definition, the project is trying to reconnect communities, so one of the things we would aspire to do is stitch them back together and it would be facilitated through air rights development, building over decks.
Q: Will Harvard and other investors reopen talks on contributions to fill the $165 million shortfall?
A: We’re working with our partners to try to be as value-additive as possible in those conversions, but I don’t think there are any answers to that question just yet.
Q: Will the affordable housing component for future projects be similar to the agreement reached for the ERC’s first phase?
A: We are excited to keep the momentum of the overall project going. The Enterprise Research Campus is a generational project that took decades to come to reality. We made commitments that the ERC and Beacon Park Yards would be 20 percent affordable, which is actually higher than any [Boston inclusionary development policy] requirement, which is 17 percent plus vouchers to get to 20 percent. We’ve committed to 20 percent cleanly. I’m really excited about that – it will make for a better project. That being said, I think we will have conversations with the BPDA and Tishman Speyer about trying to find a path forward about a commercially feasible project. Everybody knows the market we see ourselves in today is different.
Q: Was the timing of the ERC second phase always intended to begin permitting this year despite the life science market downturn?
A: That’s exactly right. The first step was getting phase A under construction. All of the buildings are above grade at this point. Now is the perfect time to pivot into the permitting for phase B. As phase A wraps up, we are in position to have fully permitted building permits and can keep momentum going and create a place for innovation, which is the core of this effort, but also creating more housing units that the city desperately needs.
Q: Does Harvard plan to participate more in community meetings than in the prior phase, as had been requested by some civic groups?
A: We very much are turning a new page and have engaged folks. Our government relations folks and team at the university certainly have leaned in. I do think we’re going to engage people in a proactive way.
Q: How did your work in New York inform your approach to the enterprise campus project?
A: One of the primary responsibilities was moving forward with projects that were accomplishing public policy goals. We worked on a project in Union Square that was focused on leveraging the innovation ecosystem, and trying to figure out how to bring small startups and more space that could be affordable. Hudson Yards was a huge complex project between state entities, the subway system, the city of New York, the neighborhood: hugely complicated multi-stakeholder projects.
Rodrigues’ Five Favorite Books
- “Great Fortune” by Daniel Okrent
- “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin
- “Justice” by Michael Sandel
- “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson
- “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
